Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the financial impact of participating in GCSE exams on home-schooled students.

Parents who choose to educate children at home bear the financial responsibility for doing so, including covering the costs of their exam entry. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will not change this.

However, the Bill does introduce a new support duty. For the first time, local authorities will be required to provide advice and information on accessing GCSE examinations when requested by parents, unless it would be unreasonable to do so.

This advice should help parents understand how the exam system works, identify any suitable centres, and plan their child’s education and approach to exams in a timely and informed way.